Consumers are increasingly using kiosks to conduct business with enterprises. The kiosks come in a variety of sizes and are used for a variety of purposes. Some kiosks are drive through, such as fast food establishments, pharmacies, banks, and the like. Other kiosks are stationary located in gas stations, grocery stores, department stores, and the like.
Store kiosks were originally created to alleviate the need for excessive store personnel to check out the customers from stores. For the most part this worked and stores reduced the number of costly cashiers employed by the stores. However, more often than not the bottleneck in the stores are the self checkout kiosks as customers attempt to use them properly; store personnel attempt to assist the customers in using them; and as full service checkout lanes diminish from the stores in greater numbers.
In short, self checkout kiosks are the victim of their own success because the popularity has been so well received the traditional model and usage of these kiosks increasingly becomes the area where improved efficiency is needed.